Service and MOT price not as advertised

unholyangel

Agricolae wrote: »

Whether or not there is an issue here depends on whether the advertisement is an "invitation to treat" or an "offer".

Theres no issue over whether the OP can force them to give the deal - they cant as no contract was formed.

The issue was over misleading advertising - which is a completely separate offence with no relevance as to whether its legally binding or not.

mo786uk

goater78 wrote: »

Time yes (1 minute). Money probably not.

If I am on one end of the high street and I see a major retailer has a huge sign up saying 50% off. If I then spend 3 minutes walking to the shop and find that on closer inspection there is a disclaimer to say only 5 items out of 50,000 are discounted - do you think I would have cause for complaint?

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If I run a car servicing garage over the road from the above and I am losing customers due to them sucking people in with their inaccurate advertising am I right to be annoyed?

System

mo786uk wrote: »

If I am on one end of the high street and I see a major retailer has a huge sign up saying 50% off. If I then spend 3 minutes walking to the shop and find that on closer inspection there is a disclaimer to say only 5 items out of 50,000 are discounted - do you think I would have cause for complaint?

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If I run a car servicing garage over the road from the above and I am losing customers due to them sucking people in with their inaccurate advertising am I right to be annoyed?

I find it very unlikely that your time is so important that 3 minutes wasted is a disaster! Besides that happens all the time. You see a big sign that says 50% off and when you get closer you see T's & C's which state exclusions. If you complain every time you see one of these signs you really are pathetic!

Your second "scenario" is irrelevant as that is not what's happened at all.

Gordon_Hose

From a £99 MOT and Service to Xenophobia, racism and religion.

Really?

ILW

I notice it does not mention cars either. Could they be forced to service a battleship or cruiseliner for £99.00?

mo786uk

goater78 wrote: »

I find it very unlikely that your time is so important that 3 minutes wasted is a disaster! Besides that happens all the time. You see a big sign that says 50% off and when you get closer you see T's & C's which state exclusions. If you complain every time you see one of these signs you really are pathetic!

Your second "scenario" is irrelevant as that is not what's happened at all.

You seem to be missing the bigger picture in that if we let all these little things go then we become a country that progressively lets more and more go. Arguably in the world of small print we are already a long way down that road. Its a sad state of affair where we have to spend time questioning marketing materials from businesses - what happened to being truthful and honest?

Sucking people in with misleading advertising is an offence even if no money is spent. In my example it would certainly something to complain about if the sign said 50% off items but almost no items were 50% off - that is different to the generally more acceptable 'up to 50% off'.

As for legitimate business losing out on money - you actually have no idea if another business has lost out because it opted to be more upfront with its market. The fact that it is not mentioned in the OP is not relevant. Presumably the banner is working because if it wasn't the business in question would be spending a lot of time answering calls and not taking on customers. Therefore it is reasonable to assume it is sucking in some customers.

The issue is relevant because misleading adverts of this type harm other business.

System

mo786uk wrote: »

You seem to be missing the bigger picture in that if we let all these little things go then we become a country that progressively lets more and more go. Arguably in the world of small print we are already a long way down that road. Its a sad state of affair where we have to spend time questioning marketing materials from businesses - what happened to being truthful and honest?

Sucking people in with misleading advertising is an offence even if no money is spent. In my example it would certainly something to complain about if the sign said 50% off items but almost no items were 50% off - that is different to the generally more acceptable 'up to 50% off'.

As for legitimate business losing out on money - you actually have no idea if another business has lost out because it opted to be more upfront with its market. The fact that it is not mentioned in the OP is not relevant. Presumably the banner is working because if it wasn't the business in question would be spending a lot of time answering calls and not taking on customers. Therefore it is reasonable to assume it is sucking in some customers.

The issue is relevant because misleading adverts of this type harm other business.

This is a consumer rights forum. I think you're after a business rights forum. Why don't you google it?

mo786uk

goater78 wrote: »

This is a consumer rights forum. I think you're after a business rights forum. Why don't you google it?

Given that the offences come from consumer protection laws I am quite confident its a consumer protection issue.

Consumer rights are not all about individual civil issues.

So what shoddy business are you involved in?

System

mo786uk wrote: »

Given that the offences come from consumer protection laws I am quite confident its a consumer protection issue.

Consumer rights are not all about individual civil issues.

So what shoddy business are you involved in?

You're main thrust of the argument is that it could take business away from the mythical garage across the road. That's not a consumer rights issue.

Your basically making up a whole fantasy situation. I am unsure why you are doing this. It's very strange.....

mo786uk

goater78 wrote: »

You're main thrust of the argument is that it could take business away from the mythical garage across the road. That's not a consumer rights issue.

Your basically making up a whole fantasy situation. I am unsure why you are doing this. It's very strange.....

Because misleading advertising is an issue for 2 reasons that I have outlined

wasting the time of consumers
taking business from legitimate business

You cannot seem to comprehend that it is not just a very simple issue that can be brushed off because the customer hasn't lost a sum of money. There are wider concerns.

Misleading advertising advertising to consumers is a consumer issue primarily because they are the ones that end up wasting time/money but the effect on businesses is not one to be ignored.

Yes this is a consumer rights board but that doesn't mean we should exclude major points as to why a certain type of practice is undesirable.

It may be 'fantasy' but I am aware of many a business complaining about competitors misleading claims and I can assure you it is a big issue.

Consumers benefit from a fair trading environment. When businesses compete fairly standards should rise for the consumer. That is why its a consumer rights issues - because ultimately it will affect the service they get..